A label is wrapped and fastened to the outer circumference of the can of a cylindrical battery to insulate the side wall of the can and to indicate the product name.
A conventional battery label wrapping method and apparatus is described with reference to FIG. 7.
In FIG. 7, a cylindrical battery 52 is rotatably supported by a battery support roller 54 which is attached to a chain conveyor 55. The battery 52 is conveyed continuously from left to right in the drawing.
A label 51 to be wrapped about the outer circumference of the battery 52 is glued at equal intervals on a band-shaped base paper 57. While being conveyed from left to right in the drawing, the base paper 57 is folded at an acute angle when passing a sharp edge of the end of a stripper guide 56. This folding causes the label 51 to peel off the base paper 57 sequentially from the leading end. When the leading end portion of the peeled label 51 comes to a specific position suited to label gluing, feed by a base paper feed roller 58 is stopped temporarily until the battery 52 reaches a specific position. When the battery 52 reaches the specific position, the leading end of the label 51 is pinched between the battery 52 and a belt 61 running at high speed. The label 51 is wrapped about the outer circumference of the battery 52 as it is being pulled by the moving belt 61.
In such a label wrapping apparatus, to facilitate the relative positioning of battery 52 and label 51, the base paper 57 with the label glued on runs intermittently. Compared with the case of continuous supply of the label 51, a servo motor or electromagnetic clutch of greater starting torque is required and inferior productivity is achieved. Such an apparatus requires precise starting and stopping of the label feed. As speed increases, differences in label rigidity and the adhesiveness of the adhesive agent make it difficult to supply the label accurately at the label wrapping starting position on the battery. This leads to variations in label wrapping.
If the stiffness of the label 51 is weak and the adhesiveness of the base paper 57 is too strong, as shown in FIG. 8, incorrect peeling occurs due to pulling by the base paper 57.
When using the chain conveyor 55, elongation or wear of the chain, or wear the of chain running rail may occur. This makes it difficult to position the battery with the necessary precision, and label wrapping deviation is likely to occur.